A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

(c) 1979 20th Century Fox Alien (1979) Directed by Ridley Scott Written by Dan O’Bannon, based on an original story by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shussett Starring; Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, John Hurt In space no one can hear you scream. Released in the summer of 1979, director Ridley Scott’s  Alien  is the most effective blend of science fiction and horror since Howard Hawks’  The Thing from Another World  (1951). Set almost entirely aboard a commercial space tug owned by “the Company.”  Alien  borrows effectively from Hawks’ chiller about a Cold War era military-science team’s fight against a parasitic alien and Steven Spielberg’s  Jaws.  Its leisurely pace, laser-like focus on characterization, and Scott’s unerring instinct for creating rising tension help earn  Alien  its status as one of the greatest films ever made. A...

(c) 1983 Warner Bros.  Writer-director Philip Kaufman’s “The Right Stuff” is a rousing adaptation of author Tom Wolfe’s eponymous non-fiction bestseller about the beginning of America’s space program. Starring Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Barbara Hershey, Fred Ward, Scott Glenn, Veronica Cartwright, Dennis Quaid, Pamela Reed, Mary Jo Deschanel, and Lance Henriksen, “The Right Stuff” dramatizes how a top secret military aircraft evaluation project evolved into the highly publicized manned space endeavor named Project Mercury. Set between Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager’s (Shepard) “breaking of the sound barrier” in October 1947 and astronaut Gordon Cooper’s (Quaid) “Faith 7” Mercury mission in May 1963, “The Right Stuff” is an epic film that successfully blends historical drama, fantastic special effects, and great performances. And although “The Right Stuff” wasn’t a box office success – it only earned $21.1 million, which was less than its $27 million budget – i...